Also everyone seems to go on about them (VSCO), and looking at my peers it seems filters (not too strong mind, but visible) are popular at the moment. I don't want to be behind the times and potentially lose work because my work does look up to date.
It takes minutes if you make them as you go? I have a collection that I have made up over the years.. usually i'll choose one and then make some changes as per the set i'm working on. Then i'll save it as something appropriate for that set and call on it again in future.
Its not worth it. Most of the filters are very strong/useless. I'm sure the'yre accurate but they look like crap.
Why not make your own?
You won't be choosing filter per picture, either.